March 26, 2000

The battle promised disaster for his smaller army. His enemy was ferocious and unforgiving! The king did not know what to do. So, right in the middle of the day, he prayed and suddenly saw something in the sky.. a vision. Clouds came together. They formed a cross. Then came words emblazoned in the sky: IN THIS SIGN CONQUER. It was 312 A.D. King Constantine ordered the shields of his soldiers painted with huge crosses. His army, inspired by his vision, marching behind their fresh-marked shields, completely defeated the stronger enemy!

Constantine knew something great happened that day. Years later he too embraced Christ. He too discovered the amazing truth: GOD TRIUMPHS OVER ALL THE ENEMIES WE FACE. If the cross of Christ could speak - it would shout: TRIUMPH! No matter what tries to destroy us, when Jesus Christ enters our lives, we can be sure that He will be the victor!

Consider those words Paul used to describe what took place when God acted on the cross - aggressive, violent, triumphant! You were DEAD in your sins...but MADE ALIVE WITH HIM! How? God the Father in Jesus Christ CANCELED our violations against Him TOOK OUT..... NAILED to the cross. To the enemy, He DISARMED and SHAMED! HE TRIUMPHED...AND CONTINUES TO TRIUMPH IN CHRIST ON THE CROSS! No accident! God triumphed over His enemy! And it is no accident that we have the cross to remember and rejoice! Many who love our Lord get confused at just about this point.

Evil, suffering, and death do not seem impressed with the cross of Christ. We see EVIL ... we hear of evil every day. Evil destroys persons, families and communities. We see SUFFERING. Our hearts break over the physical abuse and the emotional turmoil our friends or family...or you and I might experience. And DEATH - death - the last enemy to face every one of us grabs us when we are least ready.

I sat through long hours with parents, as we watched their son suffer the effects of drug abuse. Then, we watched him die from an overdose of drugs. I cried with another family as cancer took their teenaged son. If we only view life from our limited position, we will never quite grasp what He did in His love on that cross.

What does evil look like to you? Drugs, bribery, child prostitution could be a few names.

What suffering crushes you? Cancer of the body; failure of your career; loneliness.

Have you only a short time to live?

You and I have to decide how we are to live. How we live is determined by how we believe. Come to the cross - see the TRIUMPH OF CHRIST!

HE TRIUMPHED OVER EVIL!

Go back to that Friday Evil gave its best. Jesus stood before the high priest Caiaphas. "Do you make no answer..."’these men are testifying against you?...But Jesus kept silent’" When asked, "Are you the son of God?"..."I AM." Governor Pilate asked, "Are you the King of the Jews?" "It is as you say." Religious leaders mocked Him. Pilate feared Him. Soldiers whipped Him cruelly. But He stood there without a word. God triumphed in the face of evil.

WHILE BEING REVILED, HE DID NOT REVILE IN RETURN (I Ptr 2). Who should know better than Peter. He promised to fight with Him to the end, but denied him and ran into the night. Evil had its moment. BUT GOD TRIUMPHED OVER EVIL. When you and I embrace Jesus Christ, evil becomes much more obvious. The question becomes, what will you do in the face of it? Let me encourage you with two men: one dead, one alive.

William Wilberforce lived in England during the time of the American revolt, (Revolution to us). Elected to Parliament, he was a popular friend of both major parties, including the Prime Minister, William Pitt. He became a Christian in 1785, and shortly after that met John Newton, the man who wrote "Amazing Grace." Newton had been notorious as a captain of a slave ship. Converted to Jesus Christ, he became a minister in the Church. He met Wilberforce and told him to stay in public service. Wilberforce took on the challenge of stopping the slave trade that made a few rich at the expense of human lives. In 1787 he introduced a bill to discuss the subject. For 18 years he withstood personal attacks and public shame to see England finally ban slave trade in 1805.

During that time he inspired other Christians to work for a better society. In just a five-year period, 14,000 people were released from Debtors’ Prison. They built hospitals for the blind and reformed many of the prisons in England. He dared face evil, for he knew evil had no power in front of the cross of Christ. He knew that Christ would triumph in all affairs of this world.

Remember Karol Wojtla? He is John Paul II. In 1980, the workers at the shipyards in Gdansk began demands for better treatment. The Solidarity Movement sprang up. The Communists faced a real threat: the Church of Christ. Military force was threatened. John Paul declared that if the tanks came, he would be there to stand with his people. Cardinal Wyszynski, himself a prisoner in a Soviet prison, helped to bring peace. He died shortly after the settlement. When he died, a state funeral was held. Communist leaders and Christians stood together, a quarter million in Victory Square in Warsaw, under a 45-foot tall wooden cross. The triumph of the cross!

Who will be called upon today to stand against evil in our community, our nation? Maybe one of you will be in the public arena. Maybe one of you will be face-to-face with evil. Be sure that you see the triumph of Jesus Christ on the cross before you begin. Then, when you are in the middle of evil, Rejoice that you know the truth. God stripped Evil of power! TRIUMPH!

HE TRIUMPHED OVER SUFFERING!

I know hospitals. I sit with many who are sick and suffering. Most hospitals are not only sterile to keep disease controlled, they are sterile of any hope. Oh, certainly there are chapels available for prayer. But, (dare a Presbyterian say this? Why not?), I am always comforted when I enter a Catholic hospital. In each room the crucifix is prominently displayed. My Savior, SUFFERING WITH THOSE WHO ARE SUFFERING! It is good to behold Him on the cross in a hospital.

I have met survivors of the Holocaust. They suffered things I hope none of us ever has to face. Some have come through it with bitterness and resentment. By far those who have done the best have a sense of the presence of God through it all. Always remember: Suffering did its worst on that cross outside Jerusalem.

It was not accidental suffering. Do not identify the Cross with that. You might have heard people talking about their life situation as "their cross." Too often they use it as an excuse to moan. No, the suffering our Lord took was on PURPOSE. He BECAME SIN IN OUR PLACE...became sin for us-! MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME? When we embrace Jesus Christ for our own, we will find ourselves in various places where we suffer! We can choose: Complain ...or...embrace. Complain and become bitter. Welcome to prison! As best as you can, embrace suffering-discover freedom. I hope you meet our friend Dr. Helen Roseveare.

A medical doctor in the Congo, she went through the Simba rebellion that brought Mobutu to power. Captured, beaten, raped, and almost shot four different times, God gave her Himself in those moments. As one soldier began to strike her, she had a conversation with Jesus. He asked her, "Did you give yourself to me for whatever I brought into your life?" "Yes, Lord." "Well, give your body to me for this moment. I will be with you." The pain was real, but His peace was more powerful. She triumphed in Christ through the suffering.

Do not long for suffering. But when it comes, you can choose to complain...or embrace what you have before you. Embrace God in the middle of it. Why? Because on the cross, Christ suffered for us! Our Lord also said, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.

Suffering can no longer grip you. Some of you might be going through suffering that is known only to you. Maybe you brought it on yourself, or it came to you. Complain? Embrace? It is your choice. William Cowper despaired of life. He almost took his life on two separate occasions. Like Wilberforce, he too, became friends with John Newton. Recovered, he wrote words for us in the middle of suffering.

THERE IS A FOUNTAIN FILLED WITH BLOOD, DRAWN FROM IMMANUEL’S VEINS, AND SINNERS PLUNGED BENEATH THAT FLOOD LOSE ALL THEIR GUILTY STAINS....REDEEMING LOVE HAS BEEN MY THEME, AND SHALL BE ‘TILL I DIE.

HE TRIUMPHED OVER DEATH!

Such good news! Death took up the battle. Death won for two days. BUT ON THE THIRD DAY...........GOD RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD! Friends, REFRESH THE EASTER MESSAGE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MESS YOU FACE. IF CHRIST HAS NOT BEEN RAISED, THEN OUR PREACHING IS VAIN, YOUR FAITH ALSO IS VAIN... THE STING OF DEATH - SIN. BUT THANKS BE TO GOD, WHO GIVES US THE VICTORY THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. Every man, woman and child who loves our Lord Jesus rejoices here! (I Corinthians 15)

Bertrand Russell said, "When I die, I shall rot, and nothing of me will survive."

Thomas Hobbes said, "When I die, ...I will commit myself to the Great Perhaps." But I like what

Jesus said to the thief on the cross: THIS DAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.

I Prefer those words, don’t you? Then, we know NOTHING SHALL SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD!

Yes...evil continues to crush us. Suffering will shred us of human dignity. And death will come to every one of us. Choose Him. Keep His cross before you. What a victory! TRIUMPH!

PRAISE THE LORD...LET THE EARTH HEAR HIS VOICE. .

PRAISE THE LORD...LET THE PEOPLE REJOICE. .

OH COME TO THE FATHER, THROUGH JESUS THE SON. .

AND GIVE HIM THE GLORY, GREAT THINGS HE HATH DONE!